"Harry Potter and the Lavender Brigade" by Doug Phillips

[gustava]

I am very, very confused.

[Patsy]

If you read the whole thing, it's a bit clearer.

[forever ago]

forever ago,

HP Wiki says that

JKR confirmed that Lavender is killed during the Battle of Hogwarts by Fenrir Greyback - so it is also book even though it is just hinted at during the book

Oh. It has been a while since I read the book...

Strangely enough, in a Harry Potter fanfic called Dumbledore's Army and the Year of Darkness, Lavender has her throat ripped out by Fenrir.

[ElphabaGalinda]

forever ago,

HP Wiki says that

JKR confirmed that Lavender is killed during the Battle of Hogwarts by Fenrir Greyback - so it is also book even though it is just hinted at during the book

Wow, I wish I never found that out.

Since it was never confirmed in the book, I figured she made it out alive. I guess the billions of Lavender-as-werewolf fanfictions helped with that. But I figured if she'd died since they mentioned all the other casualties we would know by name, they would have mentioned that as well. I hoped the movie was just a difference in movie-verse. I liked her, despite all the Won-Won stuff, or maybe because of it.

[Guest Anonymous]

Oh. It has been a while since I read the book...

Strangely enough, in a Harry Potter fanfic called Dumbledore's Army and the Year of Darkness, Lavender has her throat ripped out by Fenrir.

Holy crap, my fandom life and my FJ life have collided! I'm not a DAYDian, I just follow the drama. Fraud, faked suicides, stalked celebrities, fake identities, plagiarized artwork, his son? a sparrow! Oh my!

[Petals]

Homosexuality is NEVER mentioned in the books, or in the movies. It's ever-so-slightly hinted between Dumbledore and Grindelwald in the seventh book, but it's never established that Dd and Gw were actually gay.

While it's true that Dumbledore's being gay was not overtly established in the books, it is hinted at. And you bet it's going to be a part of the new content on Pottermore. I think it's a great thing that Rowling includes gay characters in her books. In fact, I'm hoping that more characters will be revealed as gay or lesbian on Pottermore.

[mirele]

Perhaps Dougie read this Onion article from 2000 and thought it was real:

http://www.theonion.com/articles/harry- ... g-ch,2413/

Harry Potter Books Spark Rise In Satanism Among Children

July 26, 2000 | ISSUE 36•25

LOCK HAVEN, PA—Ashley Daniels is as close as you can get to your typical 9-year-old American girl. A third-grader at Lock Haven Elementary School, she loves rollerblading, her pet hamsters Benny and Oreo, Britney Spears, and, of course, Harry Potter. Having breezed through the most recent Potter opus in just four days, Ashley is among the millions of children who have made Harry Potter And The Goblet Of Fire the fastest-selling book in publishing history.

And, like many of her school friends, Ashley was captivated enough by the strange occult doings at the Hogwarts School Of Witchcraft And Wizardry to pursue the Left-Hand Path, determined to become as adept at the black arts as Harry and his pals.

"I used to believe in what they taught us at Sunday School," said Ashley, conjuring up an ancient spell to summon Cerebus, the three-headed hound of hell. "But the Harry Potter books showed me that magic is real, something I can learn and use right now, and that the Bible is nothing but boring lies."

Some people found this article on the Intertubes and thought it was for realz. Maybe Dougie is one of them?

[VodouDoll]

While it's true that Dumbledore's being gay was not overtly established in the books, it is hinted at.

She confirmed it in an interview too, that he was gay and in love with Grindelwald. So tragic!

[ElphabaGalinda]

While it's true that Dumbledore's being gay was not overtly established in the books, it is hinted at. And you bet it's going to be a part of the new content on Pottermore. I think it's a great thing that Rowling includes gay characters in her books. In fact, I'm hoping that more characters will be revealed as gay or lesbian on Pottermore.

I really want Sirius Black to have been gay. I don't know why, but I really like the idea. And he doesn't even necessarily have to have had a relationship with Remus Lupin. :) I would also have loved it if one of the secondary yet important characters had been gay. Perhaps Dean Thomas. I would've also loved there to be some lesbians, though i have no idea which. Fundies probably think Harry Potter himself is gay because of all the wand handling. ;)

[SamuraiKatz]

The only Lavender Brigade that exists is barricaded in the back of remote closet located in the furthermost recesses of Vision Forum Headquarters. Perhaps Harry, Hermoine and Ron can rescue the Brigade from the Dark Lord's minions Peter Bradick and Doug Phillips.

SRSLY the VF crowd is a paranoid scared group of control freaks.

[Childless]

I love Harry Potter. I have no idea what people find so bad about it. It's a nice story with a lot of life lessons in it. I plan to read it to my son as soon as he's able to understand the English language. I actually read the entire series to him while he was in-utero.

I love how fundies slam on the Harry Potter books without ever having read them. You can't intelligently comment on what you don't know.

[Bellatrix]

Seriously, no one yet? :lol:

[nutella addict]

Wow, just wow. My friends and I have been fairly obsessed with Harry Potter since we were wee little things, as for the first few books we were the same ages as the characters. Somehow, none of us got knocked up or knocked anyone up in our teen years (or ever, really), none of us "turned" gay although a few always were and HP had nothing to do with it, none of us turned to drugs, none of us actually try to do magic, none of us decided to Avada Kedavra our parents....the list goes on. Dougie really is a rather a bit completely entirely insane isn't he?

One of my friends used to have dinner with this elderly Southern couple when she would spend summers down there, and she once mentioned Harry Potter to them and they were horrified. She also had to keep quiet about being a Democrat and other such things though...

And about Dumbledore/Grindelwald, I don't think most younger readers would even pick up on that...I didn't figure it out until JKR confirmed it and I went and read it for the umpteenth time looking for it :/ I'm very oblivious. My friends made (make) fun of me for it, as that's not the only time I've completely missed romantic feelings/relationships both in books and in real life.

And I actually rather liked Lavender too, at least a bit.

[masagoroll]

I really want Sirius Black to have been gay. I don't know why, but I really like the idea. And he doesn't even necessarily have to have had a relationship with Remus Lupin. :) I would also have loved it if one of the secondary yet important characters had been gay. Perhaps Dean Thomas. I would've also loved there to be some lesbians, though i have no idea which. Fundies probably think Harry Potter himself is gay because of all the wand handling. ;)

I ship Sirius/Remus so hard...you don't even know, haha.

But aside from that, yeah, I think that the books, with so many characters, should have had statistically more LGBT people in them than just Dumbledore (who was not established as gay until afterwards in an interview).

But anyway...Doug is super-dumb. At least his stupidity makes me laugh, as I compare this article with all of the LOLDOUGS we have created.

[kthomp38+]

I didn't read Harry Potter until I was in college my parents probably would have wanted to read it first if I had wanted to read it as a younger child but the first book came out when I was in ninth grade. I decided to read them because I was writing a paper on censorship and I wanted to know what the big deal was. I read books 1-6 all of the books that had been released at the time in about a month. I am definitely looking forward to sharing the books with my future children because they are so well written and have good messages.

On another note I teach at a Christian school we have some of the books in our school library. It is up to the parents if they want their child to read it. If they have a problem with them all they have to do is tell the teacher that their child is not allowed to read them.

[debrand]

One of the criticisms that I've read about Harry Potter is that the kids aren't respectful enough to the adults and that kids sometimes lie. These are people who want perfect children who either never do wrong or are punished for their supposed misdeeds.

http://www.christiananswersforthenewage ... enix1.html

Here is an article where the author takes nearly everything out of context to prove that Harry is a spoiled brat.

I think that some Christians want a very flat character in novels who is very noble and good with no shades of gray.

Harry is disrespectful and rude to adults and to many of his peers throughout the book. His language and those of his friends is less than charming; he is sarcastic, he shouts, he and his friends use words like "dammit" (77) and "git" (194, 299), Harry swears (735), and the infamous Uranus joke from a previous book is used again. Though he is reprimanded at times, Harry is not one for moral regrets. Even Ron, Harry's friend, points out that Harry gets away with everything (156).

Sirius, Harry's beloved godfather and protector, tells his dead mother (but who "lives" and "talks" in a portrait), "Shut up, you horrible old hag, shut up!" and shows and expresses a vehement hatred for her (78, 109-111). It is true that apparently Sirius' mother was not pleasant and was on the side of evil, but from a Christian viewpoint, one should not speak like this about one's mother, however bad she may have been. To even set up a situation like this in a children's book is somewhat disturbing.

[emeraldskull]

I think that some Christians want a very flat character in novels who is very noble and good with no shades of gray.

Haven't you ever read Elsie Dinsmore??? :lol: :roll:

[forever ago]

One of the criticisms that I've read about Harry Potter is that the kids aren't respectful enough to the adults and that kids sometimes lie. These are people who want perfect children who either never do wrong or are punished for their supposed misdeeds.

Here is an article where the author takes nearly everything out of context to prove that Harry is a spoiled brat.

I think that some Christians want a very flat character in novels who is very noble and good with no shades of gray.

And that is what we literary-inclined folk, Christian or not, call a "Mary Sue." A perfect character with no shades of gray who does everything right. Even if the protagonist does get punished, the person doing the punishing will be the Mary Sue.

This is assuming at all of the Harry Potter books are even for children- the first two definitely are but after book 3 it's questionable. I think JKR was going for a different audience after that, and there is no way in hell the last two or three are for kids.

[thoughtful]

Is he attempting to write satire? I don't get it.

It looks that way.

And Doug attempting to be clever reminds me of someone (I apologize in advance for the ugly imagery -- don't scroll down if you are easily grossed out)

sitting on a toilet, painstakingly and painfully trying to push out hard stools.

So much strained effort, to such little effect.

[JesusFightClub]

The guy's fucking mental. Having said that I'd love to read that book ;)

Debrand, is the author of that site from the US? Cause while I can see fundies wouldn't like "damn it" cos, damnation, "git" is very mild indeed and not even a swearword.

[VodouDoll]

This is assuming at all of the Harry Potter books are even for children- the first two definitely are but after book 3 it's questionable. I think JKR was going for a different audience after that, and there is no way in hell the last two or three are for kids.

Yes, for sure. I remember being horrified at Harry's detentions with Umbridge in the fifth book. It's a great story, but not at all age-appropriate for a little kid.

[cjsmom]

I really want Sirius Black to have been gay. I don't know why, but I really like the idea. And he doesn't even necessarily have to have had a relationship with Remus Lupin. :)

I always pictured young Sirius (haven't seen the movies beyond the 3rd) as really freaking hot and very heterosexual. I can see him and James teaming up together to get girls... hmmm :) Food for thought!

[emmiedahl]

Yes, for sure. I remember being horrified at Harry's detentions with Umbridge in the fifth book. It's a great story, but not at all age-appropriate for a little kid.

I think the rest of the series was written for fans of the first book, who were quite young but aged into teens as 2-6 were being written. I let my daughter read the first two and see all the movies (imo the later books are too scary).

[Alecto]

I really hate Sirius/Remus.... HATE.

Remus/Tonks ftw. Because I always loved their relationship in the books.

[nutella addict]

I think the rest of the series was written for fans of the first book, who were quite young but aged into teens as 2-6 were being written. I let my daughter read the first two and see all the movies (imo the later books are too scary).

For sure, my friends and I matched the ages of the characters as each new book came out up until they got quite far apart, and so the books sort of grew up with us, or we grew up with the characters, or something like that. Still, I found thin paperback chapter books meant for elementary schoolers (John Bellairs gave me nightmares) to be way scarier than anything in Harry Potter, but then maybe if I hadn't been so scared the first time around I'd read them again now and find that's not the case. Definitely the books are older in tone. I think it was Madeleine L'Engle who said that to be an author one has to remember what it's like to be each age so they can write the story of someone who is 7 as easily as someone who is 47 or 87. I think JKR was keeping up with her characters' ages and maturity levels with each subsequent novel.

I loved Remus and Tonks! I always saw Sirius as quite the ladies' man flirtatious sort, handsome and always off with James trying to get girls....